Fold-up style service cap



1952 M. P. CARLUCCI ETAL 3,015,108

FOLD-UP STYLE SERVICE CAP Filed Sept. 21, 1960 I NV ENT ORS MC/UZQLP CarZLLccL' Haoh WPersL'co ATTORNEY United States Patent Ofifice 3,015,108 Patented Jan. 2, 1962 3,015,108 FOLD-UP STYLE SERVICE CAP Michael P. Carlucci, Natick, Mass, and Ralph W. Persico, Philadelphia, Pa., assignors to the United States of America as represented by the Secretary of the Army Filed Sept. 21, 1960, Ser. No. 57,588 1 Claim. (Cl. 2--195) (Granted under Title 35, US. Code (1952), sec. 266) The invention described herein, if patented, may be manufactured and used by or for the Government for governmental purposes, without the payment to us of any royalty thereon.

The invention relates to folding head gear and more particularly to folding caps of the type known as fatigue or work caps in the military services. Such caps comprise fiat crowns, generally cylindrical side walls and the usual visors. It is highly desirable that such caps have a uniform military appearance when being worn. However, because such caps are usually made of lightweight cotton material, must be regularly laundered, and are customarily folded and pocketed when the user is temporarily indoors, they usually have a crumpled appearance.

With the foregoing in view, it is an object of the invention to provide an improved cap of the class described which can be repeatedly folded and laundered without losing its starched and military appearance.

A further object is to provide such a cap wherein the crown is provided with juxtaposed stiffeners hingedly connected together transversely of the cap, together with means concealing the presence of such stiffeners, whereby the crown presents an unbroken appearance at all times when being worn.

Other objects and advantages reside in the particular structure of the cap, the structure of the several elements of the same, combinations and sub-combinations of such elements, all of which will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art upon reference to the accompanying drawing and to the following specification wherein the invention is shown, described and claimed.

In the drawing:

FIGURE 1 is a side elevational view of a cap accord ing to the invention, the same being shown in its operative position;

FIGURE 2 is a like view, the same being shown in a partially folded position;

FIGURE 3 is a like view, the parts being shown in the fully folded positions; and

FIGURE 4 is a longitudinal vertical sectional view of the cap, the parts being shown in the operative positions.

Referring specifically to the drawing, wherein like reference characters designate like parts in all views, '10 designates generally a cap according to the invention, the same comprising a normally flat crown 11, a generally cylindrical side wall 12, and a substantially crescentshaped visor 13. The side wall 12 is mainly formed of flexible material but includes a substantially semicircular front section 14 which has been stiffened in any suitable manner as by the inclusion of an inner stiffener or ply 15. Such stiffened front section 14 is hingedly connected to the visor in a well known manner at their line of juncture and is likewise hingedly connected to the crown.

The crown 11, as best seen in FIGURE 4, comprises an outer ply 16 and a liner ply 17 which are secured at their margins to the side wall 12 in a well known manner as by the line of stitching 18. The crown 11 is also stiffened by front and rear stiffeners 19 and 20 which are disposed between the plies 16 and 17. Front stiffener 19 includes a rear edge which is disposed in juxtaposed parallel relation to the front edge of the rear stiffener 20, such edges extending transversely of the crown 11 substantially centrally thereof. Such front edge of the rear stiffener 20 is connected to the liner ply 17 by a line of stitching21. In like manner, the rear edge of the front stiffener 19' is connected to the liner ply 17 by a parallel line of stitching 22. This arrangement leaves a slight space 23 between the juxtaposed edges of the stiffeners to provide a hinge line. The stiffeners 19 and 20 are not connected to the outer ply 16 whereby the same presents an unbroken appearance while being worn, conceals the presence of the two stiffeners 19 and 20, prevents the formation of a crease along the hinge line 23, and gives the illusion that the crown 11 is stiffened by a single stiffener.

When being worn, the cap 10 presents a normal appearance. However, when it is to be folded for storage or otherwise, the front section 14 is folded down upon the visor 13, FIGURE 2 and then the crown is folded upon itself along the hinge line 23 and thence accordionwise onto the folded front section and visor 14 and 13, FIGURE 3, to provide a compact pocket sized arrangement. Thereafter, the cap is readily unfolded for wearing by a reverse process. The fit of the cap upon a wearers head is sufficiently snug to prevent sagging of the crown along the hinge line 23. Such fit also retains the front section 14 in an upright position. The resultant slight stretching of the outer ply '16 of the crown It prevents the formation of a crease along the hinge line 23 whereby the same and the two stiffeners 19 and 20 are concealed. After laundering, it is only necessary to lightly iron the unstiffened portion of the side wall 12 to restore the cap 10 to its original military appearance.

It follows from the foregoing that although there has been shown and described what is now thought to be a preferred embodiment of the invention, it should be understood that the same is susceptible of other forms and expressions. Consequently, the invention is not considered as being restricted to the specific structure shown and described hereinabove but only as hereinafter claimed.

We claim:

A cap comprising a crown, a side wall, and a visor hingedly secured to said side wall, said Side wall having a stiffened and normally upright front section hingedly connected to said visor and to said crown, said crown including outer and liner plies of foldable material and an inner ply of stiffening material, said inner ply comprising two like stiffeners disposed between said outer and liner plies, said stiffeners including parallel juxtaposed straight edges extending transversely of said crown centrally thereof, means securing said juxtaposed edges of said stiffeners to said liner ply only of said crown whereby to provide an unbroken outer surface on said outer ply of said crown and to conceal said stiffeners from view, said crown being foldable upon itself to locate one stiffener atop the other, and said folded crown as well as said stiffened front section of said side wall and said visor being foldable accordion-wise to reduce said cap to a pocket-sized package.

Mabry July 7, 1959 Lipschutz July 28, 1959 

